Skins: Fire Part One Recap
by Gerald the Puppet
Summary: This is a recap of the first episode of Series 7. I review what we see and hear, and try to draw some connections and make sense of it all.
1. Spring: Part 1

A cold open, rather than the anticipated theme music. A shot of a sidewalk, with a crowd of people walking towards us, presumably on their way to work. It's raining, and there's some ethereal music in the background. Moving in through them, we can see Effy. We're on a bridge, and she's standing at the railing, staring out over the water. Effy is dressed mainly in black, with a red shirt emerging from the bottom of her jacket.

The scene changes to an overhead view, and Effy is now walking through the city, still with the same music in the background. Zoom out to a shot of downtown London.

Effy walks into a building, swipes her access card, and goes through a turnstile. The interior walls of the building are very red - the same red as her shirt - and twice the walls are interposed between the camera and Effy, so that that the whole screen and her face are only shades of red. Krzysztof Kieslowski would be proud. The music rises, the red elevator doors close, and we cut to the title screen: Skins, Fire, with only a crackling, burning sound in the background.

_We've seen some action-packed opening scenes in prior Skins series - Tony's morning routine in S1, Maxxie dancing in S2, Freddy skateboarding down the street in S3, the disco and Sophia jumping in S4, Morocco in S6 - and this is much slower and more introspective. The walking crowd_ _is in slow motion, as if to highlight the new pace_. _The only music is the ethereal strings, nothing like the fast-paced, upbeat music of all of the previous openings_. _Is this the new face of the new, "more mature" _Skins_? No longer in-your-face action, but something more understated?_

Close-up of a photocopier, making copies. A caption tells us it's spring. Effy walks through the office, distributing photocopies, and gets a few muttered acknowledgements. We see that Effy has removed her black coat, and is now wearing a white shirt over her red one. The shirt has long, flowing tails - Effy's style hasn't changed too much. Effy returns to her desk for more secretarial work, and exchanges a few words with a fellow assistant. A woman in a long blue dress walks up, and she's important enough not to to know Effy's compatriot's name (Jane). She's whisked away by someone who could be a ten-years-older Freddy, and we learn two things: The woman's name is Victoria, and Effy is interested - she stares after them long enough for Jane to comment on it.

Effy has prepared a tray of coffees, each different, and she double-checks it against her written list before steeling herself to bring it to the meeting. She rolls her eyes before entering - some things haven't changed! - and finds not a meeting in progress, but Victoria in Freddy-lookalike's lap. Effy stammers through an apology and Victoria quickly makes an exit. Effy makes a nice recovery, asking if she can get anything for unruffled man. He takes a swing and a miss at her name ("Emmy, is it?") and she corrects him, giving the impression that it's not the first time. He declines her offer and she goes to leave, rolling her eyes and quietly calling him an idiot. She's perhaps not quiet enough, as he turns to watch her leave, and then shakes his head and sighs - but he's smiling, so he might be interested in her rather than offended.

_Getting involved with your boss, or your boss' boss, is always the way to get ahead, right? It's clear where this is going - almost as clear as when watching Naomi and Emily alternate staring at each other, in the first episode of Series 3 - but this surely can't end as well._

Effy and Jane are outside on a smoke break, gossiping about what Effy just saw. They spot someone named Dominic coming towards them. Dominic is about their age, clearly infatuated with Effy - he's picked up an extra sandwich, "just passing by", for what is not the first time - and has the social confidence of JJ (or, well, most nerds, but the JJ comparison becomes more apt later).

Dominic stumbles his way through asking Effy out, going so far as to offer to help her with her work (are we still in college?), but Effy sweetly turns him down. He assures her that he's still available, should she want any Freudian slips, er, tours of the city, before fleeing in embarrassment and bumping into a passerby because he's too busy waving at Effy to look at where he's going. Jane mocks him, but Effy quickly cuts her down to size: "You look like a horse when you laugh down your nose like that."

Later, inside: another shot of Effy walking, taken through a wall, but the wall is clear this time. Not-Freddy is watching Effy as she walks by, seemingly unaware of his attention.

_Some things haven't changed: Effy is still a magnet for every male eye, and she can still size you up and cut you down in moments. But this is a kinder, gentler Effy, and it looks like she might have matured after all - eye rolls not withstanding. _

That night, people are fleeing the office and Effy is packing up to leave, but Victoria stops her and asks her to create a monthly report, right then. And to bring it to them, where they'll be drinking, when she's done. Effy agrees, as you do when you're an office drone with hopes of continued employment, and gets to work.

In the next scene, Effy is outside a pub looking in - there's no subtle metaphor here! - at the Victoria and the business types, drinking in the red-walled pub. Victoria catches her eye, and rushes outside to collect the report, glancing at the cover and proclaiming it "perfect". Victoria is overly gushy, either because she's been drinking or because she knows how inconvenient the request was, take your pick. She starts to hurry back inside, but pauses to invite Effy in for a drink - only decent, given how long it must have taken Effy to produce the printed and bound report - but Effy demurs. Effy stands for a moment, still looking into the pub, backlit by the reds of taillights and traffic lights, before turning away. On the Tube home, between dizzying shots of Effy riding the escalator, she interestedly reads her own copy of the report.

_At this point, it's worth noting how little Effy has spoken. She has been our focus the whole time, either on screen or showing us what/who she's seeing, but has said almost nothing. She's been talked to, at length - by Jane, by Victoria, by Dominic, by mysterious not-Freddie - but has responded with the bare minimum. She's said enough to get by, or to brush them off. It's like a return to the late-S1 / early-S2 Effy, the Effy who was recovering from a trauma. Does she need her big brother, again? Effy's family has fractured, and might well be spread across Britain or even as far as Rome by now. What support has she had, since the end of her college years?_

* * *

When Effy walks into her apartment, we can hear Naomi laughing loudly. She sighs as she kicks off her shoes and drops everything to the ground; she wanders in to the living room to find a party in full swing. "Hey", Naomi (no longer blonde!) says brightly, "Where've you been?" Not an unreasonable question, given the hour, but Effy's in no mood. "Working," she retorts. In her tone, we can hear clearly, "As always. You should try it sometime." Random partygoers call out to her, and she exchanges sarcastic remarks for their offers of drinks. Naomi comes up, in an effort to be the friendly flatmate. _This might not be Naomi's episode, but you can't tell that from the way Lily Loveless steals this scene. Her performance is brilliant, and her delivery of each line is flawless:_

Effy: Have enough money to pay the rent this month?  
Naomi: *head tilt* Potentially… Sit down, have a beer.

Naomi exchanges her spliff for a helium balloon, thrusts the spliff onto Effy, then rushes off to find food for one of the partiers. She finds a steak which seems to have been defrosting in the fridge. She's mystified as to its origin, but offers it to the random regardless. Let's hope Effy wasn't planning on that for her dinner; she might take it out on Naomi's Garibaldis.

Effy wanders into her room, and we can see that one wall is covered with bar charts and graphs and reports. The decorating theme is reminiscent of her old room in Bristol, except that images of death and violence have been exchanged for the stodgier and more mature maths. _Assume the reports are from her job, and insert your own joke about the mania and soul sucking of the financial world._ Effy studies the papers for a moment, then takes one down and compares it to the new monthly report. Red pen in hand, she begins to circle and question numbers, opting to ignore the sounds of breaking glass coming from the party in the rest of the flat.

_Still obessessive, at least Effy is no longer seeking the chaos and is choosing order - she's drawing meaningful connections in what she sees, rather than inventing conspiracies that exist only in her mind. At least, at this point, we can only hope that's what she's doing._

Lying in bed later, Effy can hear Naomi's side of a Skype conversation with Emily. It's not a happy conversation, as might be expected of people frustrated by the long distance in a relationship. "Don't you dare", Effy mutters to herself, only for Naomi to open her door. Effy claims she's asleep, Naomi sighs and curses, and Effy pulls aside the covers and invites her in. Effy reassures Naomi that Emily does love "useless stoners" like Naomi, and is not being seduced away by the "hot dykes" of Naomi's fears. Naomi reveals that she's planning to go to New York to see Emily, needing "some fanny time fast" before she "bursts into flames". "Romantic", responds Effy, drily, and points out that Naomi needs to find a job first. Naomi reveals that she wants to be a stand-up comedienne, Effy ends the conversation end there, and Naomi puts her arm around Effy before dropping off to sleep.

_Let's stop here and talk about the downward spiral that is Naomi. Stand up comedienne? Stoner without a job? When last we left Naomi, at the end of S4, she wanted to go to university to study politics or law, and go off to fight injustice. Sure, she drank a lot and drugged a lot - but a big part of that was likely dealing with the pain of Emily shutting her out for so long. She and Emily reconciled, they went off to spend a year abroad … then what? Emily is gone to New York, and Naomi's lost her dream? Is she just dealing with Emily's absence? Or - spoiler alert for later in the episode - is she dealing with the amount of physical pain she's going through? It's a huge, abrupt personality change for this character, and it seems likely the writers have a very good reason for that._

Naomi is snoring, and Effy can't sleep. There's some pensive piano music in the background. Effy looks at Naomi briefly, considers, then gets up and gets a dress. Next, we're in a club - lit by only a red strobe light - with a pounding bass. Effy's dancing and some guy is trying to make out with her. Effy's expression is unreadable, possibly resigned, possibly relieved. Cut to black. _End of Day One._

_When life gets too much, too confusing, you go to the club - this has always been Effy's method, from the time she was 14 in S1. The more things change, the more they stay the same._


	2. Spring: Part 2

Next day, Effy is in the office, hard at work. She looks none the worse for wear; in fact, she tries to wake up the sleeping Jane, but not before Victoria notices and chastises her. Effy informs Victoria about what she noticed in the monthly report - some of the numbers haven't been updated from the previous report - and fears that it may look to the investors as though they're trying to hide something. Victoria brushes off her concern, thanking her for trying.

Effy is in the meeting taking notes. An associate named Mark is stumbling through his report, apparently unfamiliar with the material, much to the dismay of boss-man not-Freddie who is running the meeting. Called out on his behavior, Mark admits that he was out late with a client, but not-Freddie isn't interested:

Boss: Thanks, Mark - that was shit.  
Mark: Yeah, but accurate.  
Boss: Congratulations. Have a cookie.

The meeting is wrapping up, but then Victoria notices Effy's notes on the monthly report Effy gave her earlier. She points out the error, much to everyone's dismay. The boss - we finally learn his name, Jake - orders the error fixed and the miscreant fired, because they don't want it to look like they're scamming the investors.

Victoria gets the credit, praise, and a kiss on the cheek, and Effy is asked to get the coffees for everyone else. Effy, having been burned by the office politics, dumps the coffee task on Jane and stalks out of the office.

_Effy seems to have gotten with the dress code today. Jane and Victoria were both wearing blue dresses yesterday and again today. Effy is wearing a blue skirt today and a blue jacket. She may just be in a convenient disguise, however…_

Effy sneaks into a different office building, this one with shades of blue in the background and glass, and ends up at Dominic's office. Dominic spots her and immediately spills his coffee all over his desk… and then decides he doesn't need to clean it up before rushing to greet her. Effy isn't supposed to be in his office, he says, and she admits that, but she needs a drink, now, and wants him to come with her. "Right, of course," Dominic says, _because beautiful women come by in the middle of every workday and demand his company in skiving off, _and then reiterates that Effy, as an employee of a hedge fund, is not allowed there. His office mate, hearing of Effy's employer, panics and begins turning off his monitors. Dominic swears his office mate to secrecy, with the promise of some light blackmail, and departs with Effy.

On the Tube, it looks like Dominic leans in and sniffs Effy's shoulder, she notices and smiles, and he does it again_. Sightly odd and creepy, or sweetly romantic? You decide_. They arrive at Effy's flat, the exterior of which bears a sign: The City. _I'm assuming she lives above a pub, one which chose a generic/ambiguous name on purpose. "Where should we meet?" How about The City?" / "Nah, love, I'm still in The City, but I'll be home soon." I used to work near the similarly-named "The Office", but I digress… _Dominic compliments the flat, and Effy reveals that it's very expensive.

Naomi, in her pajamas, greets the suit-and-tie clad Dominic. He reveals that he's a "research strategist", meaning that he "research[es] stuff. Strategically." Naomi turns to Effy, "I thought you said they were all dicks?" "No," says Dominic, charmingly, "I work in a completely different building."

Naomi suddenly winces in pain and clutches her left side. Effy is concerned, but Naomi reassures her: she's a "hysterical dyke", and the doctor has said she has "hormonal hypochondria". The doctor thinks she's only seeking attention, it seems. Naomi offers Effy a spliff, but she declines saying that they have work to do. Naomi protests, "I've been on my own all day," but is ignored.

_We've now learned that Naomi has been in physical pain, for some time, and it's going untreated, Her lover, the person most likely to notice and make a fuss, is in another country. Her flatmate, the person next most likely to notice, is distracted by work._

On the roof, Effy has changed into casual wear - a _Flashdance_-style, one-shoulder-bared pink top that shows off a white undershirt and blue bra strap. Dominic, of course, is still in his suit. "What are we doing?" he asks. "I want to know," says Effy, "Everything that you know". It emerges that she wants to know how the financial world works, and hands Dominic a piece of chalk to begin his lecture. Dominic unashamedly admits a lot, rambles a bit about where to begin, but responds to the slightly stunned look in Effy's eyes and manages to adjust his course.

Next comes a montage of Dominic drawing in chalk, teaching, and Effy looking engrossed and asking questions. He circles the phrase "Short selling" at one point, and then explains how hedge funds work, and we hear "You can win it now". The lesson concludes with Effy agreeing that she understands, and thanking Dom. We zoom up and out to see that the pavement is covered in a multicolored chalk concept map with formulas, pie charts, and concepts defined. _The concept map would do any autistic Bristol boy proud, but this one manages to look more coherent and rational than what we saw on JJ's wall._

Effy walks over with a smile to thank Dom, and he tries for a kiss. She draws back quickly, correcting him, and he stammers into an apology/non-apology. The moment is saved from further awkwardness by Naomi approaching, yelling, "Shout if you're naked, shout if you're naked…" _OK, maybe not so much "saved from" as "plunged into"… _Naomi is hoping she can try out her comedy routine on them. Dominic is eager to please, Effy less so. Naomi's routine starts off awkwardly,and gets worse. She makes a London-specific joke, picking on bankers. _Everybody likes to pick on bankers, right? Especially two financial professionals… ouch. Know your audience, Naomi!_ Dominic reassures her that it's funny, and seems sincere. Effy goes for the white lie, and agrees. Naomi is reassured, and they settle down for a rest.

In the next scene, Effy is back in the office, making photocopies. Her dress is mainly blue today, with a white strip and a red stripe. Jane comes running up with a crisis: she forgot to cancel Victoria's meeting with an investor that starts in 5 minutes. Effy wonders why Jane stopped to tell her this, and Jane curses and runs off. "Run, Jane, run", Effy calls after her. Victoria's meeting arrives in the building lobby, and Jane is doomed. She needs to go greet the client, and thinks Victoria is going to fire her. Effy agrees that it's likely,and offers to greet the client herself.

Effy arrives in the lobby. The furniture is white, the walls are red, and we can see reflections of blue buildings in the glass. _Oddly, the stripes on Effy's dress have swapped sides - perhaps this shot is mirrored?_ Effy greets the investor and makes apologies for Victoria. She's then says that Victoria has asked her to cover the meeting, and takes the investor to lunch.

_This is the Effy we know! Bold, impetuous, and willing to risk it all. _

At lunch, the investor is playing hard to get, literally. "I keep telling Victoria we're just not that into you", he says. He asks why Effy's firm is suddenly interested and Effy reveals that she knows his firm is having liquidity issues. She's done her research. She has his attention. Effy expounds on the situation as lunch continues. She plies him with wine, and she drinks water. The meeting ends, he's smiling, and he reaches across the table to shake her hand.

Later that day, Victoria is giving Effy a blocking for taking the meeting in her stead. Victoria is now in a bright yellow shirt, and they're in the same conference room where Effy interrupted Victoria and Jake. Jake is there again too, and he steps in when Victoria starts cursing at Effy. Victoria storms out in a huff. Effy asks if she's fired and Jake confirms it. Effy objects, only for Jake to explain what could have been lost. Effy points out that she didn't lose them the investor. Jake acknowledges that the investor (Stibbard) liked her, but brushes it aside and repeats that she's done. Effy storms out, calling him a pussy, and once again Jake shakes his head and laughs. Cut to black.

Back at Effy's desk, everything is shaded red again as we look through the wall. She informs Jane that she's leaving, and Jane is appropriately horrified. Jane begins ranting about the situation, proceeding to personal attacks against the management before realizing that Jake has walked up behind her. Jane quickly runs away in fear. Jake has reconsidered, we learn, and he asks Effy to stop scowling at him. He asks her if she could handle this client's investment, and offers her a chance to be the trader for this client. Effy pushes her luck, asking about policies, and then about a raise. No raise, he says, as he walks away. Effy is smiling, and doesn't have to unpack. She watches him leave, then sighs.

Dark scene, red lighting. Happy string music playing. Effy is in the club, wearing a red dress, dancing. Bouncing with joy, really, head thrown back, laughing.


	3. Summer: Part 1

The sun is shining, people are scurrying over London bridges, boats are sailing on the Thames - Summer, the caption informs us, is here.

Effy is in front of a mirror, primping, preparing for work. She walks into her living room, to find Naomi passed out on the couch. Naomi is leaning against a man with a Mad Twatter-style mustache, who is also asleep. Effy sighs, "Come on, Naoms."

_That's Emily's nickname for Naomi, and I don't think we've ever heard Effy use it before. An indication that Effy's been around the couple a great deal, or that the two have been living together for a while? It's a nice touch._

We cut to Effy at work, in the midst of the other traders. The floor is busy, everyone is on their phones, yelling at each other, passing notes. Mark, the incompetent associate who stays out late with clients, is yelling at everyone to see what's happening on a television screen. In the midst of the chaos, Effy is quietly working.

Effy starts focusing on one of her screens, where we see that the share price of a company called Gray Leverson has started to fall. Effy is concerned. The camera cuts to just over Effy's shoulder, where Jake and Victoria are arguing in his office. Freddy glances over in Effy's direction, and Victoria storms out a moment later, yelling something ending in " - girl!" _We must say this for the woman, she's never moving slowly. She's either striding up to find Jane lacking or storming out of the room._ Jane appears, in Victoria's wake, and she and Effy share a quick moment. _Effy hasn't forgotten where she came from_.

The Gray Leverson price continues to fall, and Effy's worried. She calls out to Mark, for his opinion. The price is falling quickly, and she wants to know what he thinks she should do. Mark imparts that the company's CEO is leaving, calling Effy "Elf girl" as he does. His tone suggests that it's not a complimentary nickname, but Effy has no time for that. The company is clearly in trouble, Mark says, and he sold his shares hours ago. Effy frets, as the price continues to tumble.

_A quick digression here, for those not familiar with the financial world. [If you are familiar, feel free to skip this italicized section.] Effy is a trader, responsible for one account. That means that an investor - the man she had lunch with, the firm she essentially stole from Victoria - has given Effy's company a sum of money, and it's Effy's job to increase that sum of money, as much as possible, through investments. She may buy and sell several stocks throughout the day, or she may hold on to them for a while. Regardless, as the price of the stocks changes, the value of her portfolio - the amount of money she would have, if she sold all of her stocks at their current market value (their current price) - changes with them. So, if Effy has invested money in a particular stock, and the price rises, then the value of her investment has increased. She won't have made any money unless she sells at that price, but she has that option. Likewise, if she has invested money in a particular stock whose price is dropping - Gray Leverson, in this case - then she is essentially losing money. She can either sell the stock for the low price, and have less money than she bought it for, or she can not sell and be left with a stock that no one will give her any money at al for. So, when she holds a stock and the price begins to drop, she can either sell then - literally, cut her losses, that is, accept the amount she has lost before she loses more - or she can hope that the price later rises. This is Effy's decision, right now - and the stock price is falling quirky, and the quoted price isn't far from 0. (Once stock prices go below 1, they tend to never recover.) [End of digression. This was extremely simplified, but should explain what's happening right now. I'll add more explanations as the action unfolds.]_

In the next scene, we're outside the building where Effy and Jane take their smoke breaks. Effy has asked Dominic to meet her here. Effy confesses that she's out of her depth and doesn't know what she's doing. Today is not an exception; she's been losing money all month. Dominic reassures her that that's not unusual_, which is true_, but Effy continues that she should be doing something right now, should be selling the falling stock, but isn't even doing that. She tells Dominic she doesn't know why she's not, but that she has a feeling something is off about the situation - or that she's clueless. Dominic tells her that that's not the case, and at first we - and Effy - think he's just being sweet, but his tone's not quite right. Effy confronts him, demanding to know more, but Dominic refuses as it would be against the law.

_[Quick digression. As before, feel free to skip.] Dominic isn't exaggerating. If he knows something about the current situation, something that's not known to the general public, then he's not allowed to do any investing - buying or selling - based on that knowledge. Acting on that non-public, inside information is known as insider trading and is punishable by large fines and jail time. If he imparts his knowledge to Effy, and she acts on it - which is what she's asking him to do - then they would both be complicit. _

Effy protests that they're supposed to be friends, and Dominic objects to being friendzoned. Effy closes down, saying she doesn't have time for that, and Dominic begins to argue with her before being interrupted by his phone ringing. He walks away to take the call, and Effy pauses a moment before getting up to stalk away. Dominic grabs her arm, stopping her, looks down, and speaks very explicitly to whomever's on the other end: "Gray Leverson. I'll get the takeover analysis to you this afternoon, ready for the announcement." Effy's face lights up and she does a little dance right there on the sidewalk.

Dom ends his call, and informs Effy that she is not there. He's repeating this, only to be interrupted by a kiss on the cheek. Effy thanks him and walks away, smiling over her shoulder - _it's a nice mirror to the way Dominic walked away from her, in the same spot, earlier … except that Effy doesn't bump into anyone. _Dominic calls after her to hurry, then curses after she's gone.

_And he's right to curse. His short call told Effy that the Gray Leverson situation was not dire - was due, in fact, to turn around later that day - and that no one else knew yet._

Effy marches into the trading room, confidently and with determination. Mark calls after her, jeering, "Bad day, little elf?" "It happens," Effy replies, sitting down at her desk, while Mark suggests she needs to "try harder".

The stock price has continued to fall. Effy watches it for a moment more before smiling and picking up the phone. Mark is still watching her. Effy says she wants to buy 300,000 shares of Gray Leverson. _At the current price, that's an investment just over 1,000,000. _Mark is incredulous, but Effy just smiles. "I've never actually seen someone commit professional suicide," he says. Effy keeps her face expressionless as she stands up and walks away. "Keep watching," she says, to the sound of catcalls.

Some time passes, and the stock price has started to climb. The traders in the room are all confused. The TV reveals the news of the takeover, and that the stock has risen 15% with more gains expected. _The ticker numbers don't quite match the events and news, but that's okay; Effy herself will tell us how much she made by her bold - and unexpected - decision later. _Everyone, Mark especially_,_ continues to shake their heads in disbelief. Mark yells at "Elfy", "What are you doing?" She smirks. "Now I'm selling." _Effy bought at a very low price, and is now selling at a high - a textbook example of the classic "Buy low, sell high" advice._

Mark is enraged, calling up colleagues and venting his frustration. Effy is elated, grinning to herself as she watches her screens. Jake catches her eye and begins applauding, loudly. Effy smiles, then ducks her head shyly, obviously pleased.

Later that night, Effy is alone in the trading room. She looks up to see Jake watching her from his office. She gathers up her belongings, and her courage, and walks up to him. She tells Jake she's leaving, and he grins at her. He asks how much she made for them today, and she reveals that it was 1.2 million. He makes a face, then asks her if she has any cigarettes.

They go to an empty floor of the office building for their smoke. Jake reveals that their client will be there that Friday, and wants to meet Effy, the "star trader". Effy tries to keep the conversation professional, but Jake asks her to take the client out when he comes since she's "fun" and a "beautiful woman". Effy agrees, so long as it's kept "within reason". Jake agrees, before observing, "People shouldn't underestimate you, should they, Miss Stonem?" "No," Effy agrees.

_The dance has begun. They've finished sniping at each other - Effy calling him names, him almost firing her - and have begun to state their positions. He's recognizing her as worthy of pursuit, and she's not unwilling._

Effy starts to leave. _Always leave them wanting more, leave on a high note, etc._ Jake stops her to return the cigarette, and reminds her - almost threateningly - about Friday.

Leaving the deserted area, Effy encounters Victoria. Victoria wonders what Effy was doing in there, with emphasis suggesting that Victoria's been there herself. Effy gives a pat reply, saying that she went there for the quiet. Victoria asks for the secret to Effy's success. Effy repeats that it was just a feeling, but Victoria doesn't believe her. Victoria tells Effy that she's leaving the company. When Effy asks why, Victoria gives a pat reply. The two trade barbed "Good luck"s. As Effy walks away, Jake walks in from the deserted area. Victoria reminds Jake of their times in that area and turns away, ignoring Jake as he calls after her.

_We're drowning in the things left unsaid, between Effy and Jake, Effy and Victoria, and Victoria and Jake. Effy and Jake are feeling out where they stand, Victoria thinks Effy and Jake aren't just standing, and Victoria isn't happy with any of it. We don't see Victoria again in this episode, but something tells me she'll be back._


	4. Summer: Part 2

**Note**: This is a warning that there's some occasional strong language in this chapter. (It's _Skins_, so it's really unavoidable.)

* * *

It's Friday morning. Effy is lying awake staring at the alarm when it goes off at 5:00. Naomi is in the living room, practicing for her routine, when Effy asks for her opinion on dresses (one red, one blue, of course). Naomi doesn't appreciate the interruption, but she's especially bitter that Effy's not coming to her performance that night or to the doctor's with her. Effy apologizes, blaming it on work, and gives her a kiss on the cheek before leaving. Naomi isn't mollified, but tries to de-stress.

_For those keeping track, this is at least the third time in this episode when Effy has been too busy with work to spend time with or attention on Naomi. And for those who love Lily Loveless, the faces and wiggle she does here while trying to relax are adorable. Kaya has her trademark smirks and eye rolls, but Lily is so incredibly emotive._

Ellie Goulding provides the soundtrack while the scene cuts back and forth between the two women. Effy is at work, relaxed, confident, happy. Naomi is hospital, waiting, worried, scared. Jake comes over to Effy and says something quietly; she laughs and smiles. Naomi is by herself and sad.

That night, Effy walks into the lobby, stunning in a gold and silver dress. Jake compliments her, and then tells her it makes her look older. _Ha! Not only the opposite of the compliment he wanted to pay her, but also re-enforcing the awkward age gap. Good job._ Effy calls him on it, and then twists the knife by asking if he's there to babysit her. He won't be staying with her, he assures her, but wants to make an impression on the clients. The two go back to talking about something other than what they mean, discussing money as war while referring to love/relationships. Effy is the one to break first this time, telling Jake that he's winning. They kiss, briefly, before Effy pulls away saying, "Easy, boss."

Jake and Effy go to meet their investors, in what looks like the same bar Effy was looking into when she brought the report to Victoria. Max Stibbard is the investor Effy wowed at lunch, and he's brought his associate, Freddie. _Ok, the name _can't_ be a coincidence, but Effy doesn't even react. This Freddie shows himself to be an ass during the rest of the evening, but we really don't learn anything more about him. _Freddie immediately hits on Effy, while making a reference to "diseased hamsters". _Yes, seriously; I can't make these things up. Awkwardness, thy name is horny male. _Jake departs, and Effy reveals her intention to take them to a comedy show.

The comedy club is dingy, with plaster walls, plywood tables, and some very green fluorescent lighting. Freddie gets the beers, the MC makes a joke about men being sodomized which the crowd chuckles at (_I laughed too, and thought it was funny, but contrast it with the next bit.) _and then introduces Naomi … Campbell. _It's easy to get used to her name, but she must go through life constantly seeing disappointed faces when people hear her name and then see her._

Naomi opens with a question to the crowd, which no one answers, and it gets worse from there. She stutters over material, and then is nonplussed when everyone laughs when she makes a casual reference to her girlfriend. The heckling begins, with a man calling her a dyke. Naomi casually agrees with it, and tries to pick up where she left off.

_This is huge. Naomi spent all of Series 3 insisting that she wasn't gay, crying about it in the shower, even almost shagging Cook. It was climatic when she left the Love Ball with Emily, after not wanting to go as a couple, and then she told Emily that she loved her. Naomi had a had time telling her hippy, commune-running mother that she was gay, but she's now proclaiming it to the world at large. She's comfortable with who she is, and that's fantastic. And suddenly, perhaps Naomi's decision to go into comedy makes a little more sense. She has to know that she'll be heckled, that she'll need to draw on her own experiences for material, that she will be exposing her self - not just exposing herself, her body, but exposing who she is and what she thinks and how she feels - and that is the opposite of the Naomi we saw in both Series 3 and 4, who was running away scared from the way she felt. This is a matured Naomi, actively seeking to grow, that we see before us. And that makes it a pity that she's not received better - but judging by the way she shrugs it off afterwards, perhaps she was prepared for this. Or perhaps she has other things on her mind, and just doesn't care._

Naomi's using the same joke she tried out on Effy and Dominic, but this time it's less well explained, more drawn out, and even more awkward. The heckling increases, Naomi swears back at them, and she's booed off the stage. Freddie enjoys this part, booing along with the crowd, despite having already confirmed that she is Effy's friend.

Outside the club, Effy tries to comfort Naomi, but Naomi's not having it, saying she wants to kill herself. Effy says she needs to go (_Still keeping track? That's number four.) _and Max invites Naomi to join them.

In a new club, Naomi is unimpressed by Effy's investors. _Ah yes, I'd forgotten about the Campbell dislike of commercialism and corporate behemoths. These, then, are not Naomi's ideal companions. _ They end up at a roulette table, and Naomi begins lecturing Freddie on the evils of his profession, ignoring Effy's warnings. Effy takes over the betting for the pair, at Max's urging, which leaves Max free to run his hands all over her. Naomi gets up in disgust, leading Effy away to confront her, but Effy's okay with what's happening as they're important to her firm. She tells Naomi to go home. Naomi protests that she needs to talk to Effy, that she needs to go somewhere, but Effy cuts her off, saying she's busy. _That's number five._ Naomi makes one more attempt to bring Effy to her senses, calling them disgusting _ (and they are, really)_ but Effy physically pushes her away and returns to the table.

The scene changes to Naomi, lying down in a hospital gown, in an MRI machine. We next see Effy asleep in bed, still in her dress from the night before. She's woken by very loud music coming from above. She walks up to the roof, yelling at Naomi. It's still dark outside, probably just before dawn. Naomi is standing at the railing, staring out at the city. _Much the way Effy opened this episode…_ Effy angrily asks Naomi what is wrong with her. We can see that Naomi's crying as she turns around and tells Effy: "Cancer." We can barely hear her over the music, so Effy makes her repeat it. Naomi screams it, this time, and adds "You win" before breaking down in tears. Effy stares at her, helpless.

_Now we know why Naomi's been in pain, and to see the doctor so much. We know perhaps why she's so aggressively drowning her sorrows, why she wants to go to New York and why she's uninterested in finding a job. And Effy wins, because she won't have to be bothered by Naomi anymore._

_This scene echoes two earlier _Skins_ moments. It's an obvious parallel to Naomi's breakdown on the rooftop in Series 4, although she hasn't violated her friendship with Effy or done anything wrong. It's also similar to Sid's breakdown in Series 2, after his dad dies. Sid doesn't tell anyone about his dad's death, for a whole day after discovering, until he tells Tony while they're at a concert - a moment, again, where we can barely hear him over the music. We don't know, this time, whether Naomi's been keeping her cancer a secret._

Effy is an in elevator, going up, and Ellie Goulding is singing again. Effy looks nervous. Jake is waiting for her outside his door. She goes to him, kissing him desperately, and the door shuts behind them.

_And under stress, Effy is reverting to her old ways. When you don't now what to do, go for the sex, take your mind off things. We don't know that Jake feels that way, though, and between stealing Victoria's man and sleeping with her boss, Effy is playing with fire._

Next time, on _Skins_: Emily's back, and thrilled to see Effy! … Effy tells Naomi, "She deserves to know what's going on." … Effy's standing behind Jake, wearing only his dress shirt, then throwing papers around at her desk while his voiceover says, "I've gone over the figures, everything's low." They're lying in bed, naked, while he says, "I need an 'Effy special'. Can you make that happen?" … Effy and Jake are standing outside, and she says "I need you to tell me that this isn't as bad as I think it is." … Effy is sitting in the boardroom, talking to the firm's lawyer, while Jake has his back to them. … Dominc is saying, "Before you, I was fine." He's yelling at Effy, "Now I'm _fucking_ pathetic." … Emily is standing in a building decorated for Christmas, and she slaps Naomi … Effy is crying.

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**Note**: Thank you to all my reviewers! Some of you don't have accounts, so I can't message you, but know that I'm grateful.


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